Halliday\u27s Functional Grammar: Philosophical Foundation and Epistemology

It is difficult to track the philosophy foundation and epistemology of systemic functional grammar (SFG) formulated by Halliday in the 1980s as this kind of grammar views language as a systemic resource for meaning. Besides, it has had global impacts on linguistics and flourished in contemporary linguistic theory. Anyone who is familiar with Halliday\u27s work realizes that his SFG is an approach designed to analyze English texts. Halliday (1994: xv) explicitly states that “to construct a grammar for purposes of text analysis: one that would make it possible to say sensible and useful things about any text, spoken or written, in modern English.” The aim of this study is not about the applicability of SFG to text analysis as many researchers and scholars do. Our efforts are made to clarify the philosophical foundation of Halliday\u27s SFG. The paper presents on triangle: (i) language, mind and world; (ii) and empiricism in Halliday\u27s SFG

Characterization of the nitrogen split interstitial defect in wurtzite aluminum nitride using density functional theory

We carried out Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid density functional theory plane wave supercell calculations in wurtzite aluminum nitride in order to characterize the geometry, formation energies, transition levels and hyperfine tensors of the nitrogen split interstitial defect. The calculated hyperfine tensors may provide useful fingerprint of this defect for electron paramagnetic resonance measurement.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Postnatal care utilization by Vietnamese women

Only 70% of Vietnamese attend any postnatal health care and this is primarily for infant immunization.NHMRC, Học Mãi Foundatio

Analytic calculation of radio emission from parametrized extensive air showers:A tool to extract shower parameters

The radio intensity and polarization footprint of a cosmic-ray induced extensive air shower is determined by the time-dependent structure of the current distribution residing in the plasma cloud at the shower front. In turn, the time dependence of the integrated charge-current distribution in the plasma cloud, the longitudinal shower structure, is determined by interesting physics which one would like to extract, such as the location and multiplicity of the primary cosmic-ray collision or the values of electric fields in the atmosphere during thunderstorms. To extract the structure of a shower from its footprint requires solving a complicated inverse problem. For this purposewe have developed a code that semianalytically calculates the radio footprint of an extensive air shower given an arbitrary longitudinal structure. This code can be used in an optimization procedure to extract the optimal longitudinal shower structure given a radio footprint. On the basis of air-shower universality we propose a simple parametrization of the structure of the plasma cloud. This parametrization is based on the results of Monte Carlo shower simulations. Deriving the parametrization also teaches which aspects of the plasma cloud are important for understanding the features seen in the radio-emission footprint. The calculated radio footprints are compared with microscopic CoREAS simulations

Improved Kinematics and Motor Control in a Longitudinal Study of a Complex Therapy Movement in Chronic Stroke

Impaired motor control post-stroke is typically measured using clinical assessments employing categorical and subjective scoring. We investigated quantitative kinematic parameters of a complex movement with therapy in chronic stroke. Tri-axial accelerometry of the more-affected arm of 24 patients was recorded during early-(day 2-3) and late-(days 12-14) therapy, and for 13 patients at 6-month follow-up. Clinical assessments included the classification of motor-function as low, moderate, or high. Kinematic parameters were measured during Wii-baseball swings to assess the effect of time and the level of motor-function. Clinical tests improved over time (all p < 0.01). Increased acceleration magnitude over time was significant only at proximal sensors (p < 0.05), and there was an effect of motor-function at distal sensors (p < 0.05). Normalized velocity decreased (p < 0.05) at all sensors over time. Peak acceleration and peak deceleration increased over time, predominately at proximal sensors. Kinematic parameters provide an objective and quantitative measure of change in motor-function that is not possible with clinical assessments. The complex patterns of change were not consistent between and within levels of motor-function but reflected improved motor control that was sustained over time. These data emphasize the potential for ongoing improvements in motor capacity in chronic stroke with additional rehabilitation

Discrete Wirtinger-based inequality and its application

In this paper, we derive a new inequality, which encompasses the discrete Jensen inequality. The new inequality is applied to analyze stability of linear discrete systems with an interval time-varying delay and a less conservative stability condition is obtained. Two numerical examples are given to show the effectiveness of the obtained stability condition

Evaluating two model-free data interpretation methods for measurements that are influenced by temperature

Interpreting measurement data to extract meaningful information for damage detection is a challenge for continuous monitoring of structures. This paper presents an evaluation of two model-free data interpretation methods: moving principal component analysis (MPCA) and robust regression analysis (RRA). The effects of three factors are evaluated: (a) sensor-damage location, (b) traffic loading intensity and (c) damage level, using two criteria: damage detectability and the time to damage detection. In addition, the effects of these three factors are studied in situations with and without removing seasonal variations through use of a moving average filter and an ideal low-pass filter. For this purpose, a parametric study is performed using a numerical model of a railway truss bridge. Results show that MPCA has higher damage detectability than RRA. On the other hand, RRA detects damages faster than MPCA. Seasonal variation removal reduces the time to damage detection of MPCA in some cases while the benefits are consistently modest for RRA

Introducing an agricultural app to rice farmers: A pilot study in Can Tho, Vietnam

Plantix is an agricultural app developed by a private company based in Germany which offers a diagnosis and advice for more than 30 crops. It has great potential as a new form of extension service complementing a traditional face-to-face extension service. The CGIAR Plant Health Initiative seeks to introduce the app as part of a package of innovations available for integrated pest and disease management to facilitate behavioral change among farmers. Plantix has been widely used in India but has not yet become very common in Vietnam. The aim of this pilot study was to test the usability of Plantix app for progressive rural rice growers in Vinh Thanh District, Can Tho City, Vietnam. A group of 15 farmers (5 woman and 11 men) participated in the training on use of the app and provided feedback after a two-week trial. The results show that the farmers seem to have some trust issues with the app’s diagnosis, as it reportedly failed to identify or distinguish early signs of certain pests and diseases on young rice. Nevertheless, the farmers showed interest in using Plantix app and considered it a useful tool once its early detection capacity is improved. The participants were experienced large-scaled rice farmers who were already quite familiar with the symptoms of regular pests and diseases. They agreed with the knowledge provided by Plantix. The farmers appeared to be conscious of the recommended dosage of chemical pesticides as written on product labels, however, the current local practice still involves overusing. This suggests that additional measures might be needed along with the introduction and dissemination of Plantix for a stronger impact on farmers’ behaviors. The app can be very useful for farmers when they start growing new crops, when there are new pests and diseases, and when they have difficulties distinguishing one disease from others with similar symptoms. Some of the farmers suggested the need for information about new generation pesticides. They also expressed the need for recommendations of specific “top-ranked” pesticide products, to help them navigate the large number of products and brands currently on the market. Considering the gender division of labor and decision-making, the results show that men are usually responsible for pest and disease management, but women are also involved in decision-making to some extent. It will be interesting to observe how women’s improved knowledge on pest and disease management obtained through Plantix will lead to change in household decisions on pesticide use. The participating farmers use various sources such as TV, Internet, extension workers, input suppliers and peer farmers as means of accessing information and exchanging knowledge. Male farmers tend to learn new agricultural technologies through social networks within their villages and the Internet more often, while the women do that through the Internet and TV. However, both groups trusted their own experience the most. Therefore, introducing the community’s key farmers to new technologies though demonstration and success stories could work as a strategy to ignite behavior change among peer farmers. In addition, communication via the Internet and TV could quickly reach a large number of farmers. Involving input suppliers and extension workers in the introduction of the Plantix app could also be helpful. While this pilot study focused on large-scaled farmers, there are smallholder farmers from poor households in some remote areas in the Mekong Delta. Their needs and knowledge may be significantly different from those of progressive farmers. Introducing the app to different types of farmers can help us understand the diverse needs and priorities of farmers in the process of digitalization